Credits: Written and pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Brett Breeding and edited by Mike Carlin.
Cast: Clark ‘Superman’ Kent, Jon Michael ‘Booster Gold’ Carter, Ted ‘Blue Beetle’ Kord, Tara ‘Ice’ Olafsdotter, Beatriz ‘Fire’ DaCosta, Guy Gardner, Maxima, Bloodwynd, Mitch, Mitch’s little sister and Mitch’s mum.
Plot: Several of the JLA are down, if not completely out of the fight. Blue Beetle is the worse off, Ice convinces Maxima to take Beetle to medical aid while she goes after the monster that caused all the devastation around them. Nearby all this, disaffected teenager Mitch is complaining about how he hates school and his stressed out single mum and his little sister being ill and how things are better as his dad’s place and (I think you’re getting the point, he is a tw@t) and just as his rant nears it’s end, Ice is thrown through the window. As the green dressed monster heads towards Mitch’s home, it’s stopped by the arriving Superman who is punched by the creature. He doesn’t move, flinch or even react, just quotes Booster Gold’s name for it ‘Doomsday’. Then it round-house kicks Superman who is flung through the house and out into the tree outside. Superman notes that he doesn’t know if he’s ever been hit so hard. He flies back in to prevent Mitch’s baby sister being killed and the remaining leaguers make their stand against Doomsday.
At this point it’s just Bloodwynd (seriously, are we ignoring the name here?) Guy Garder, Fire and Booster Gold and all 5 lay into Doomsday. Fire collapses through exhaustion, her flame gone. Booster Gold’s power cells are depleted, making him a normal man as does using up the last of Guy’s Sinestro ring’s power. They stop, expecting their enemy to be stopped. Instead, the creature is just partially unmasked, showing slate grey skin and stone-like bony protrusions along the jaw and the forehead, matching the knuckle claws it has. Then shrugging off the League’s best and causing a gas main to explode. As Doomsday leaves, Mitch’s family have been trapped by the blaze and Superman faces a choice, save 3 people and let Doomsday get ahead, or keep on the monster and condemn three innocent people to a fiery death.
Notes: Now that is how you do a cliffhanger. The building of the threat of Doomsday is handled well here with the impression going from unimpressed to the League being eviscerated. By the time this issue ends, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Fire & Ice are either depowered or hospitalised, in a couple of cases both. The team unload on him and the only thing that happens is his mask is uncovered and the horrifying bit is that this is the point where he can use both hands. He took out half the JLA with one hand literally behind his back. This has built and built and now we’re in the midst of something pretty special.
Verdict: 8 out of 10: Once again we have Jurgens on double duty, doing well in mixing the writing and art, a tightrope that many have fallen off before. This feels more of a continuation of the last part, rather than another issue because of Jurgens and it makes the hold thing seem more frenetic as we move from chapters 2 and 3 so fast we barely notice. The action is heavy and the drama high. The consequences of a fight like this are all around and the charge towards the end of this story is beginning to pick up speed and I can’t wait for more.
Next Time: Finishing off the prelude to Fire from Heaven
My Marvel Life 